Thursday, March 28, 2013

The smoke on the horizon has diminished, and Rachel Wheeler and her two traveling companions head toward the mountains where Rachel's grandfather Franklin has built a survivalist compound.

However, the strange mutated people known as Zapheads seem to be changing from bloodthirsty killers into a force far more menacing. A secret military installation may hold the key to rebuilding civilization, but Franklin doesn't trust their intentions.

And the Zapheads are adapting to the new world faster than the human survivors, who must fight for their place in a future that may have no room for them.

A massive solar storm erases the world's technological infrastructure and kills billions. While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have...changed.

Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city, where violent survivors known as "Zapheads" roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains, where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for Doomsday.

Other survivors are fleeing the city, but Zapheads aren't the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life.

And the Zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.

**WARNING** I do my best to keep all
reviews as spoiler free as possible but because this is part of a series, some
spoilers are unavoidable.

Well Estep really doesn’t waste much
time. She instantly throws her heroine, Gin aka The Spider, back into the fray.
I mean seriously, what could go wrong with Gin attending the opening night of
the late Mab Monroe’s (who of course she killed) art collection and for the
reading of her will. Or what could go wrong just in shopping for the perfect
dress for the gala. In Gin’s world, nothing is ever easy. Every crime boss in
Ashland is gunning for Gin and most of them know her true identity. When Finn
and her walk into the museum (on an island), Gin notices right away that
something is off. As always, her instincts are right. The giants have formed
together and they plan to rob the entire museum but first they have to take out
the Spider before she can spoil their plans.

Estep opens up old wounds when she
introduces Own back into the mix. He also attends the gala with and “old” female
friend who just so happens is wearing the exact same dress as Gin. There are
many unresolved issues between Own and Gin. Their friends want them to work it
out but it is kind of hard when the person you love (Gin) kills your ex. Estep
does not let her readers have a second to think that everything is going to turn
out perfectly. This wouldn’t be Gin’s world if it did. There are many bumps in
the road but hopefully one day Gin will have the peace and happiness she
deserves…it just isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

A great part of this book is the flash
backs to when Gin made her first kill with Fletcher, her adoptive father. It
brought insight into the makings of the Spider and that from a very young age
she was taught that sometimes you have to hurt and use the people you love to
kill the bad people.

Gritty, bloody, heartbreaking and at
times quite humorous makes this series one of the best I have read and will continue
to read. Jennifer Estep has created a series that the outcome is never what you
think it will be and each new book injects a new twist or turn to keep the plot
moving. She isn’t scared of hurting her characters to the point that us as
readers have no idea if they will survive or not. The ending is bittersweet but
I liked how Gin handled her revenge on a certain someone. Estep also leaves it
wide open on who the next big baddie will be.

Monday, March 25, 2013

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes
overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you
are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means
you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you
borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course
ebooks!

If you’re anything like me, you are probably hoarding
books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it
might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves
is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles!

Friday, March 22, 2013

I would like to welcome Nina Berry to Kelsey's Book Corner today! She was gracious enough to answer a few questions for my readers!

Q: How would you describe the second book in your OTHERKIN series, OTHERMOON?

A: I think of OTHERMOON as THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK of the OTHERKIN series. It’s darker, and it goes deeper into the character relationships (but no light saber battles, sorry.) The Tribunal is down and out at the end of OTHERKIN, but in OTHERMOON it comes back with a vengeance, armed with tools the OTHERKIN could never have anticipated, bigger and badder than ever, baby. Which means the consequences for our heroes are more dire, and the ending…Well, I don’t want to spoil it, but I got pretty upset while I was writing it, and a few readers have jokingly told me they hated me a little, but couldn’t wait for the next book. This is exactly the reaction I was looking for. Sometimes writers need to be a little evil.

Q: Did you have the plot for OTHERMOON in mind when you wrote the previous book in the series, OTHERKIN?

A: I had the overall story for three books in mind when I wrote the first book, so the answer is—yes, sort of. I planted little story seeds in book one, and I had to be sure to stay true to my plans for them or endure the wrath of readers. But I figured out the details of the plot came after the first book was done. Then some things changed in the writing. Nice surprises sometimes occur as you write, so I try not to be too locked down.

Q: How did you go about topping the exciting action in the first book?

A: I didn’t try to go bigger with the action itself, but I did try to go deeper with the emotions behind it. Action’s a great way to reveal character, and I hope I did that with what happens in OTHERMOON, particularly at the end.

Q: A villainous character in the first book gains more dimension in OTHERMOON. Did you plan that from the start?

A: Every so-called bad guy has his reasons for what he does. So I knew generally how I was going to flesh out the three main Tribunal characters in book two. As I wrote OTHERMOON, I came up with the specifics. When I wrote one particular scene, where a “bad guy” character shows us his most vulnerable self, I kind of fell in love with him. Big fun. The more three-dimensional characters are, the more enjoyable it is to write them.

Q: Things heat up a lot romantically in OTHERMOON. Was that also fun to write?

A: Romantic scenes can be a blast to write, or they can be super embarrassing, depending, for me, on where I am when I’m writing them. When I’m alone, I can really get lost in them. But recently I was writing a very romantic scene for book three while I was at my dad’s house. That was tough! It’s not like he’s looking over my shoulder or anything, but I got weirdly self-conscious with him sitting nearby. So I put that scene down and wrote something less “hot” while I was there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Berry grew up bodysurfing in Hawaii, learned to throw snowballs at
the University of Chicago, and now lives and works in Hollywood,
pretending to lead the glamorous life. She got a screenplay optioned,
wrote for a TV show called Ghost Stories, made it to the finals of the
Disney TV Writing Fellowship, and became a semi-finalist in the Nicholl
Screenwriting Fellowship. Inspired by novels she loved as a teen, she
sold her debut YA paranormal novel OTHERKIN to KTeen in 2011. When not
writing, Nina loves to travel, read, and tweet links about saving big
cats in the wild.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

In Berry’s follow up to Otherkin we are
instantly thrown back into the action. The Tribunal have broken into each of
the shifters homes, not to kill them, but to still their hairbrushes. Right
away Dez is on alert and with the strange incidents happening with her mother,
she knows that they need to assemble at the school and figure out what is going
on.Dez has grown into her shifter
abilities but as a result she has become even more stubborn. I have a feeling
that is a natural trait with all tiger shifters and maybe that is the reason
that most shifters are not fans of tigers.

Dez does continue to make mistakes but
in her head they are for the good of the people she loves. Her love of Caleb
becomes blurred when Caleb’s half-brother and Tribunal baddie, Lazar, steps
back into the picture. This time Lazar wants to help the shifters. He
supposedly has seen the light and wants nothing to do with his father. Instead
he wants help from the shifters to escape the Tribunal but the other shifters
except for his sister, Amaris who has already escaped and is helping the
shifters, don’t believe him and think it is a trick.

I think if it wasn’t for Caleb’s sudden
jealous streak there would not be a love triangle. Unfortunately, as with most
YA books, there is one now but it doesn’t deter from the main part of the
storyline. I did find myself seeing Lazar as not the enemy but as a tortured soul
who is truly looking for a way out from under his father’s tyrannical rule. The
only part that was hard for me to accept was how easy Dez trusted Lazar who
previously tried to kill Dez and her family.

At times the action does read a bit
heavy but all in all Berry does an excellent job in keeping the action rolling
page after page. With each new revelation I was riveted to the pages wondering
what will happen next.